Examples

Already the first brown areas are appearing on the machair where well-rotted weed has been spread not only to enrich the light sandy soil but also to help bind it in a way artificial fertilisers never could.

Soon the bull, duty done, will be off to his winter quarters while most of the others will be moved on to the machair, where they will play their part in the crofting cycle which maintains one of Britain's rarest ecosystems.

White beaches, standing stones, flowers on the machair, Gaelic psalm-singing (which sounds like no other church music in Europe - a Chinese or Mongolian feel to it) and monstrous alcohol consumption on a Saturday night (an Englishman is best advised to avoid Stornoway dockside bars) followed by a real Sabbath - no shops, taxis, bars - you go for a walk or go to church.

"The machair, which has been acting as a barrier for the last few thousands years, has come to a stage where it's within less than a foot of the Atlantic coming in and flooding vast areas of the south end of the island," he said.